Title

Mass vs. Hockey Bullseye

Broad Question

How does the weight of something effect how it flys?

Specific Question

Does the mass projectile effect the accuracy of a street hockey shot?

Hypothesis

It is hypothesized that the heavier the projectile the more accurate. Offical NHL pucks are heavy and are accurate.

Graph of Hypothesis

Hypothesis Graph

Variables

Independent Variable:

Projectile Mass

Dependent Variable:

accuracy (Decimeters away from bullseye)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Same weather, same place, same target, same shooters, same distance from target, same plexi glass to shoot off of, same day, same sticks

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Projectile = object being shot

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General Plan

The experimenter will measure mass of projectile. The experimenter will build bullseye, target. Shooters will shoot the projectile at the target. The experimenter will collect the data. On the target you try to get the lowest score, if the shooter hits the bullseye the shooter gets a zero because it is zero decimeters away from the bullseye.

Potential Problems And Solution

weather, chose a day with good weather

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

shooting pucks, using sticks

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Where I will get this	Cost
Hockey Puck	home	N/A
Lacrosse Ball	barrow from a friend	N/A
Street Hockey Puck	home	N/A
Tennis Ball	home	N/A
Wood	Chick Lumber	N/A
Paint	Chick Lumber	N/A
Hockey Net	home	N/A
Hockey sticks	home	N/A
Plexi Glass	Chick Lumber	N/A
Flip Video camera	home	N/A
Camera	home	N/A
Tripod	School	N/A
Drive way	neighbors	N/A

Detailed Procedure

SFP Procedure

1. Recruit 5 friends to do the experiment.
2. Get materials: hockey puck, tennis ball, lacrosse ball and hollow street hockey puck, from Olympia, shooting target, spray paint from my dads work Chick Lumber,picture camera, flip video camera and hockey net.
3. Bring pucks and balls in to school to measure mass.
4. Set up target on driveway.
5. Invite the 6 friends over, supply a left handed stick and a right handed stick
6. Paint shooting line 15 feet away from target with spray paint.
7. Set up flip video camera behind shooter so that the camera captures the target and the shooter.
8. Read directions to each shooter before they shoot. (Script)
9. Have shooter aim for the center of the target.
10. Have shooter shoot each object 3 times in a row.
11. Record points after each shot on paper data table.
12. Repeat 8 through 11 for the next 4 shooters, but change the order of the objects being shot
13. Put away materials.


Script
Please aim for the center of the target. Stand behind the shooting line. Take your time and your best wrist shot. You will take 3 shots. Go!

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Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

Trials Graph

Average Graph

Average Graph

Photos

Shooter Shooting Lacrosse Ball

Shooter Shooting Lacrosse Ball

Results

The average distance away from the bullseye for the regular puck was 4.5 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the tennis ball was 4.61 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the street hockey hockey puck was 3.88 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the lacrosse ball was 6 decimeters. The most accurate was the street hockey puck and the least accurate was the lacrosse ball.

Conclusion

The experiment was made to test if mass effects accuracy in a street hockey shot. The results show that the lighter projectile has the best accuracy. The street hockey puck had the best accuracy weighing in at 24.3 grams and an average of 3.9 decimeters away from the target. The worst accuracy was the lacrosse weighing in at 159.8 grams and an average of 6 decimeters away from the target.

Discussion

The experiment question was “Does projectile mass affect the accuracy of a street hockey shot?”
The experiment results partially answered the question. The lightest object was the most accurate, although the heaviest object was the second most accurate. Although the second heaviest object, which was less than ten grams lighter was the least accurate. The experimenter believes that shape has an effect on the accuracy, because the two pucks were the most accurate over the balls. It is hypothesized that mass did have an effect on accuracy. That is half right because, it did have some affect.
The average distance away from the bullseye for the regular puck was 4.5 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the tennis ball was 4.61 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the street hockey hockey puck was 3.88 decimeters. The average distance away from the bullseye for the lacrosse ball was 6 decimeters. The most accurate was the street hockey puck and the least accurate was the lacrosse ball. The experimenter believes that these results happened because the shooters all had different hockey abilities. There weren't really any trends or patterns within the data because it seemed like the numbers were just all over the place. For example, if someone shot a one the next shot they would shoot a six. The only trend there was, with the lacrosse ball most people shot fives and sixes.
The challenges within the experiment were that, first of all the experimenter planned to do the experiment on a pond. The ice melted, making it so the experiment had to be done in street hockey. The experimenter could have done things differently, by choosing different people to shoot by age, height, and maybe if they play hockey or not. This experiment could help fellow hockey and street hockey players use the object that will give them the best performance. Different questions related to this experiment people could do could maybe be, “Does shape affect the accuracy of projectile?”

Background Research

- mass is a big part of hockey
- accuracy is also affected by the curve on the blade of the stick
- skill also affects accuracy
- shape affects accuracy

References

Wikipedia. "Projectile." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.
Sports, NBC. "Science of NHL Hockey." Science of NHL Hockey. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

Abstract

The purpose of the experiment was to test street hockey shot accuracy of projectiles with different shapes and mass. It was hypothesized that the heavier object were the most accurate and that mass affects accuracy. The experiment was done by shooters shooting four different objects at a target. The most accurate object with the average distance away from the bullseye of 4.5 decimeters was the street hockey puck and the least accurate with the average distance away from the bullseye of 6 decimeters was the lacrosse ball. The results showed that mass was not the only thing that affected accuracy.